This week, award-winning journalist and academic, Aleks Krotoski, discussed the impact of the internet with Egham parents in the first of a series of talks for the local community.

Hosted by ACS Egham International School, the talk asked ‘What’s the internet doing to us?’ and unpicked the many claims about how technology has affected our basic psychology and its influence on young people.

An Emmy, BAFTA and Radio Academy Award-winning academic and journalist, Aleks Krotoski holds a PhD in Social Psychology, presents the BBC Radio 4 series, Digital Human, and hosts The Guardian podcast ‘Tech Weekly’. She also writes for The Guardian, often examining the relationship between human behaviour and the use of the World Wide Web.

“Despite some pretty lofty claims, it’s difficult to pin down exactly how our fascination with technology has truly affected our basic psychology,” said Aleks. “While technology hasn’t fundamentally changed us, it has changed the way we do things and connects us in a different way.

“I think that the issues we talked about resonated with a lot of parents. Kids push boundaries - it's the nature of growing up. And we as parents are always playing catch-up, especially in online technology.”

During the talk, Aleks discussed the positives of modern technology, including how it can strengthen communities as well as increasing our ability to share knowledge and information.

Aleks also addressed the dangers of leaving digital footprints, understanding online privacy and in particular realising which audiences are able to view content shared on social media.

Aleks added:

“Technology is central to our modern world and we must remember that there are so many positive upshots from children engaging with technology. As parents, we can and should help facilitate this.”

The event was the first in a series of World Beyond the Classroom talks, organised by ACS Egham, where local parents can discuss, connect and exchange ideas about topics affecting their children’s education.

Future ‘World Beyond the Classroom’ talks will feature expert speakers covering the topics and challenges that parents face in the modern world and are designed for those in the local area – regardless of which school their children attend.Published: March 31 2017